Leo's Nightmare
by lokiofassgard
Summary: Leo is having a bad dream. One shot. Taking place in Mark of Athena - but doesn't contain any major spoilers, really. Credits can be found at the beginning of the story.


**A/n: This story is inspired by a Supernatural episode called "Dream a little dream of me" (3x10) so some of you may recognize som of the dialogue. Also cover credit: viria (on tumblr)**

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When Leo finally fell alseep, he was dreaming.

He recognized the room he was in. It was his old room. The room he had lived in when his mom still was alive. Nothing had changed. All his toys were still sprawed across the floor. On his nightstand, a picture of him and his mom, smiling, was standing.

At his old desk he suddenly notices a silhouette sitting at the table, switching the light on and off. For a minute he feels the fear kicing in. Is it Gaea? Have she brought him here to taunt him?

"Hello?" he finally says. Hating how weak his voice sounds.

The person sitting in the chair turns around. It's himself. "Hey Leo," he says. "We need to talk."

Leo is confused. The person looks exactly like himself. He pulls himself together. It's just a dream, he tells himself. "I get it, I'm my own worst nightmare. Is that it?" Leo asks.

"Joke all you want, smart ass," the other Leo says. "But you can't lie to me. I know the truth. I know how worthless and lonely you feel. I know how you can look into a mirror and hate what you see."

Leo stares at him for a minute, at loss for words. "Sorry pal," he finally says, "it's not gonna work. You're not real."

"Sure I am," his double says, "I'm you."

"I don't think so," Leo says, "all i gotta do is wake up, and you'll be gone. This is all just a dream."

"I'm not going anywhere," the double says. "And neither are you." The door behind him slams shut and locks. "Like I said. We need to talk."

"You will always be the outsider. You're always alone. And your friends don't even notice it. You know very well what Nemesis said. And you know it's true. You are the seventh wheel. You will never belong," the other Leo says.

"Wake up Leo, come on, wake up!" Leo says desperately.

"I mean, after all, you got nothing outside of your machines. You are nothing," the other Leo contineus. "You're just a pawn on the chessboard. The only reason Hera chose you, was because of the ship. That's the only useful thing you have accomplished during this whole quest. Besides building this useful machine to help your friends travel, you have been useless."

"That's not true" Leo says. But he has lost his confidence. The thing his double is saying, is starting to get to him.

"No? I know how you think. I know your limits. Remember? You are small and alone. You need your friends to protect you. Without them, you are nothing," he says, "All there is, 'build us some useful machines'. 'Make sure the ship is functioning.' ''Know your place boy'."

"Just shut up," Leo says, getting upset

"I mean, think about it. All they ever do is bossing you around. Making you work for them. Your nothing to them. Besides being their little repair boy. "

"I mean it, I'm getting angry."

"Your own mother left you. Actually, you killed her! Your daddy doesn't care for you either. He doesn't care whether you live or die, why should you?"

Leo finally snaps and shoves the other Leo against the wall, saying, "Shut up! Shut up! I didn't kill mommy, Gaea did! I was just a kid!" He yells, "All that shit in my life, that was her and Hera's crap! They are both obsessed bastards. They ruined my live. I was perfectly happy before they came along. And dad...Dad was the one who couldn't protect his own family. He's the one who let mom die. Who wasn't there when I needed him. That was his crap. I was the only one. I was alone. I don't deserve what was put on me, and I don't deserve to be left behind, so go to Tartatrus."

He blasts his double with a wave of fire. Shutting him up. He's breathing heavily, tears streaming down his cheeks. But he doesn't care.

He approaches his burned double, lying on the floor. The fire starts catching around the burned body. When suddenly he opens his eyes. "You can't escape me, Leo!" he says, sitting up. "You'll never be accepted. You'll always be alone!"

Suddenly Leo jolts awake. His sweating and breathing heavily. It was just a dream. A stupid nightmare. But he can't help but feel terrible. The things his double said were true. Nemesis were right. He didn't belong.


End file.
